Career Diplomat
From 1977 to 1979, David Welch served in the Office of the Under Secretary for Security Assistance, Science and Technology. He was appointed political officer at the U.S. embassy in Islamabad (1979–81) and returned to the State Department where he was desk officer for Syria (1981) and Lebanon (1982-3).
Welch was assigned to the U.S. embassy in Damascus as head of the political section (1984-6), and then to Amman (1986-8). From 1989 to 1991, he was a member of the National Security Council staff at the White House and became executive assistant to the Under Secretary for Political Affairs at the State Department (1991-2). He served as chargé d'affaires at the U.S. embassy in Riyadh (1992-4), continuing there as deputy chief of mission in 1995.
Between 1996 and 1998, Welch served in the State Department's Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, playing an important role in achieving U.S. foreign policy objectives in Iran, Iraq and Libya. In October 1998, he became Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs implementing U.S. policy towards the United Nations and other international organizations.
In August 2001, David Welch was appointed U.S. Ambassador to Egypt (2001-5).
On March 18, 2005, Welch was sworn in as Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs.
On December 18, 2008 Welch resigned from his position as the top U.S. diplomat in the Middle East to pursue work in the private sector. Sec. of State Condoleezza Rice bid Welch farewell in a speech that reviewed his service to the United States. Welch was the first US Assistant Secretary of State to resign in transition to the Obama administration. Welch is currently the president of the Europe, Africa & Middle East division of Bechtel.
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